The Phoenix Effect
by hyacinthofdoom
Summary: 12 years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, Marlene lives her life in Kalm town until the cry of the Planet alerts her of danger. Sephiroth has returned in a new form, with power greater than anyone has ever seen...
1. Chapter01

Marlene gazed out the Kalm Town window over to the ruins of Midgar. Plant life was beginning to etch across the edges, but rumor had it that people still lived there. Far from Midgar, on the distant shores of the island, excavators had worked for years to bring the remains of the Diamond Weapon to the land.

Marlene sighed. This was not the time to lose focus. She turned to the two children she was caring for. They ran around playing, ignorant of their loss. Their father had gone on a trip to Mideel to report the strange activity alongside many other journalists, and fell to his death in the Lifestream after a rockslide. The children's mother had shot herself when she heard the news. The children became orphans. Dele, the young girl, had been too young to even know she had parents before Marlene, and Johan, the boy, seemed to have forced his parents out of his memory. He had never got along well with his father and mother.

Marlene watched Dele and Johan for a while. Johan was entertaining his little sister by making various pieces of fruit star in plays of his own creation. Marlene smiled.

But then the happiness was shattered by a massive shudder that ran through the earth. Then everything stopped as soon as it had started. Vases had smashed to the floor. Dele was crying and Johan had a cut on his arm. Marlene knew something strange was happening. She rushed the children outside into the center of Kalm. "What's going on?" she asked as she wrapped a scrap of cloth around Johan's cut. Several other people asked the same question. More people rushed out of their houses to add to the crowd. Marlene fiddled with the silver pendant around her neck, wishing her father was still with her.

The mayor of Kalm approached the crowd of people. One of his assistants rushed to place a podium before him. "My people," he began, and cleared his throat. "My people, I reassure you that there is nothing to fear. That shake we just experienced was just a minor explosion caused by the excavators in the sea. They confirm that it will not happen-" The Mayor cut short his speech as a strange noise filled the air. One that had not been heard on twelve years. The cry of the Planet.

The people looked around. Except one. Marlene stood stock still, unable to remove the shock from her expression. She knew this cry. When she was a child, she had heard it, and the events that followed had not been good. The summoning of Meteor...the rise of Sephiroth...the attack of the Weapons... The Mayor wrapped up his speech, leaving with the people half convinced of their safety. Marlene chased down her friend and neighbour Essa.

"Essa, I need you to take care of Dele and Johan for me," Marlene said. Essa started to question her, but was cut off. "Look, please just take care of them? I have to leave." Marlene said her goodbyes to the children, and rushed out of Kalm. Monsters were rare these days, and she only needed to go to the shore where her seaplane, Tiny Bronco II, was waiting. She climbed in and was soon in the air and headed for Cosmo Canyon. Marlene hoped Nanaki would be able to help her.


	2. Chapter02

Marlene made a smooth landing in Cosmo Canyon. Trying not to appear like she was in too much of a rush, Marlene speed-walked up the rocky staircase to where Nanaki lived. Years ago, Nanaki had met a tiny colony of his kind, but it seemed that no one, even they, knew their origin. Nanaki had since found love with on of them, named Sasari, and they now had two young, named Esthi and Kogora. Kogora, who had been passing by at the time, caught sight of Marlene waiting impatiently in line, behind people waiting for advice from the great Nanaki. "'Lene!" called Kogora, using his and his sister nickname for her. A few people in the line glanced behind, but found no interest in their reunion. "Hello, Kogora," Marlene said, kneeling to greet him. "How have you been?" Marlene really didn't want to know right now, but she was afraid of seeming to worried. Kogora started explaining about all sorts of things he had been doing, then went off to find his sister. Marlene rose and continued the seemingly eternal wait. Kogora soon re- emerged with Esthi. Esthi was a little less hyper than her brother, and asked what she wanted to talk to Nanaki for. "Well," Marlene said quietly, "Something strange has happened at Kalm. I think Nanaki may know what is going on." Esthi nodded. "Don't worry, we'll get you in!" She ran to the door and waited until the next person had exited. She held up her tiny paw to the next person in line and said in a authoritative voice: "Just wait for a moment please!" And she then walked into the room, followed closely by Kogora. Marlene edged her way to the door. In moments, it opened a crack, and a familiar red eye peered at her. "Come in," said Nanaki, and Marlene did, nearly tripping over Kogora and Esthi as she did. The only sources of light were from the dim setting sun and Nanaki's fiery tail. "What brings you here, Marlene? I haven't seen you in years." He asked. "Well...It's not that I haven't wanted to come visit you...I've just been so busy, I've been caring for two children after their parents died..." Nanaki nodded. He understood, he had been busy himself, raising his own young. "But, just earlier on today, there was a great shaking in the ground...we were told it was an explosion made by the people trying to excavate Diamond Weapon, and then-" "-you heard the cry of the planet. We all heard it, too," Nanaki finished for her. "But no one's even worried! They didn't seem concerned at all!" "I calmed the people down...there was some panic, and I had to...lie, so they wouldn't worry." Nanaki never lied. Marlene watched Nanaki with a questioning expression. "I don't want to have my people worry. That is why I do this." Nanaki gestured to the door with a nod. "People always come to me, seeking answers..." "But you don't lie to them, to?" Marlene asked. "No, no...But I do what I can to answer their questions." Nanaki sighed. "We must focus. I believe that the explosion may have gone to deep into the earth...And cracked one of the underground rivers of the Lifestream." Marlene was shocked. "How could you think this?" "The Lifestream traces many rivers under the ground, all over the Planet. If the land were to open up, as it did in the explosion, the Lifestream would escape the river. I don't know what would happen if it entered the sea." "Like...like what happened in Mideel?" Marlene felt fear wash over her. "What should we do?" Nanaki was about to speak, when Kogora burst into the room. "'Lene! Something's happening to the radio on your plane!" Marlene forced herself not to panic. If there was a message coming in from Kalm... The three of them raced out to Marlene's plane. Esthi and someone Marlene didn't recognise were in the cockpit. Marlene jumped inside, not noticing that she had thrown the man that was there onto the ground. She pressed the button. "Hello?" she said warily. "Marlene!" The familiar voice belonged to Essa. She sounded scared. "Essa? What's happened?" Essa almost couldn't speak. "It's-well-someone came into the town-they looked lost-but then I noticed...It was him!" "Who?!" The reception was getting poor. "Faretz!" Marlene gasped. It was the father of Dele and Johan. How... Essa rushed to continue. "It was him, me, Dele and Johan, we ran out to him, and then I noticed-he had such different eyes-not the same kind ones...and then-he-" Essa sobbed. "He killed them!" Those last three words came out in a rush, and Marlene only barely heard the words. She hoped, and sent a silent prayer that she had heard wrong as Essa said more. "I asked him-I said-'Faretz, what happened?' and he said...he said he was Sephiroth! I thought something had happened to him...but I was too scared- then-" The radio cut out. Marlene stared at the speaker, breathing hard. No, she thought. It's not possible! Killed...by their own father... But he couldn't have survived! He's been gone too long! Only one person had ever survived such great exposure to the Lifestream... 


End file.
